Nestbox watch
Would you like to see some baby birds in the hand? Join members of the Rye Meads Ringing Group as they monitor and ring the birds breeding in the nest boxes around the reserve.
We have a variety of boxes around site offering nesting sites for little, tawny and barn owls, kestrels, blue and great tits, house sparrow and stock doves, however these species don’t always take up residence, so you may find other species taking advantage of the space. Last year one of our boxes was home to a hornet colony, and the swift boxes on the visitor centre had a lovely honey bee hive. This year one of the Barn Owl boxes on the Draper scrape were home to 2 young Tawny Owls but they have now “branched “ (the owlets are still flightless but leave the nest hiding in nearby branches using their strong feet and claws to climb trees) and left the box, while the pair of kestrels using the pylon box in the car park don’t seem to have laid eggs yet.
You will encounter mostly blue and great tit on this event and the ringers have a huge amount of interesting facts and knowledge to pass on about these and many other species. Saturday 18 May 2019, event will start at 1pm. Adult member £8, adult non member £10, child member £3, child non member £5, and there is a £4 parking charge for non members. Ring 01992 708383 to book
Birds are rung in order to find out more about them. This includes many different factors including Where they go, how long they live, better understanding on how to age and sex birds. Only 1-2% of birds ringed are recovered or controlled so continued work ringing new birds is necessary in order to keep an up to date picture on populations, migration patterns, and how they may be changing due to environmental and climate changes.